Rasheed Wallace was winding up an unusually cordial postgame interview when he conceded that yes, he was indeed looking forward to getting the next several hours over with.

Wallace wore an Atlanta Hawks uniform on Wednesday for the first time _ and perhaps the last _ as his name repeatedly surfaced in trade rumors circulating around the NBA's 3 p.m. Thursday trading deadline.

``I'm getting sick of (reporters) asking about it, I'm getting sick of my family and friends' 'Yo, what are they going to do?''' Wallace said after scoring 20 points in a team-high 42 minutes as Atlanta lost 98-92 at New Jersey. ``In a couple more hours it'll be over with, so that's all I'm looking forward to.''

As one of the most anticipated and dreaded days on the NBA calendar arrived, Wallace wasn't the only member of the league's player population wondering whether his world might be turned upside-down with little notice.

Allen Iverson, the league's second-leading scorer, was in the same shoes.

With many in Philadelphia _ including some of Iverson's most historically strident public supporters _ debating whether it's time to end the A.I. era, the player nicknamed ``The Answer'' left practice in Seattle without any _ refusing to speak with reporters.

``Time hasn't expired yet, so the clock's still running. Until that time, anything's possible,'' said Philadelphia coach Chris Ford, who punished Iverson by keeping him out of the starting lineup in Denver on Tuesday after Iverson missed practice Monday.

Iverson was incensed at the treatment and made his feelings known publicly.

Philadelphia general manager Billy King was unavailable for comment, and Ford was notably vague when asked if the team would consider parting with its marquee player.

``If there's a trade possibility that would make the team better, that's what the organization is looking to do,'' Ford said.

Trades involving superstars are rare, but they do happen _ as evidenced by the Ray Allen deal of a year ago that nobody saw coming. There has been one major trade made on deadline day each of the past three years, and there hasn't been an uneventful deadline day since 2000 when Anthony Johnson was the only player traded, dealt for a second-round pick.

Names being mentioned in trade rumors included Golden State's Erick Dampier and Nick Van Exel, Dikembe Mutombo and Penny Hardaway of New York, Brent Barry of Seattle, Donyell Marshall and Morris Peterson of Toronto, Juwan Howard, Gordan Giricek, Shammond Williams, Tyronn Lue and Steven Hunter of Orlando, Chucky Atkins of Detroit, Marcus Fizer of Chicago, San Antonio's Malik Rose, Phoenix's Tom Gugliotta and most anyone on the Utah Jazz _ with the exception of All-Star Andrei Kirilenko.

Mutombo, perhaps expendable after the Knicks acquired center Nazr Mohammed on Sunday, moved into a new home in Manhattan on Monday.

``My goal was to finish my career here,'' he told reporters. ``If it doesn't happen, so life goes on. I cannot control my future.''

``If you have to go,'' Mutombo said, ``you should be happy you are still playing in this league and that you get your check on the 15th every month.''

Though there was a lively debate in Philadelphia about an Iverson trade, a far more likely scenario would be a deal sending Eric Snow or Aaron McKie elsewhere.

Still, there might not have been anyone in the NBA who was more uncertain about his future than Wallace, who was acquired by Atlanta last week and now is being sought by the Pistons and Knicks.

``All that trade rumors stuff, hey, it ain't nothing. I've been in it before,'' Wallace said. ``Been there, done that. So I'm not getting all geeked up and this and that.''

The Hawks would want a package of draft picks and players with expiring contracts for Wallace, whose $17 million contract expires at the end of this season.

``I think everybody is approaching it like this is our team today,'' Hawks coach Terry Stotts said. ``If something happens within the next 24 hours, we'll deal with that.''